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Nick Fairley: Lions will play in Super Bowl next season

Nick Fairley expects the Lions to make it to the Super Bowl next season. (Leon Halip/Getty Images)

It's hard to go anywhere but up after the 4-12 season the Detroit Lions had last year. But Nick Fairley, the team's defensive tackle, thinks the Lions will see such a vast improvement over the course of one year that he expects a Super Bowl appearance next season.

"I expect big things. I am going to say we are going to the Super Bowl because I am competitive and that is what I want for the team, and it is one of the goals. I am sure we are going to take it game by game and day by day...I expect big things. We picked up some good guys in the draft. It is going to be up to us (players) to getting the chemistry up to where we can play off each other. We are going to do some big things this year. Those are our expectations."

Despite the high expectations, the Lions are already dealing with disappointing news for one of those draft picks. The team's second-round pick Darius Slay is missing this week's rookie minicamp after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery earlier in May to repair a torn meniscus. He is expected to miss the rest of the offseason workout schedule but should be ready to go when training camp officially opens in July.